Project pileup irks Cape

Like the Bourne and Sagamore bridges, the Canal Area Regional Traffic Task Force needs some work now and then, too.

Edward F. Maroney

But options are few

Like the Bourne and Sagamore bridges, the Canal Area Regional Traffic Task Force needs some work now and then, too.

Cape Cod Regional Transit Administrator convened the group of political, government, business and community leaders April 24 in Hyannis for an update on Sagamore Bridge repairs and a fistful of Route 6 projects that have made a timely crossing of the Cape Cod Canal a sometimes thing.

All the work had been aired at a Task Force meeting some weeks ago, and the word went forth, but the reality of lane closures has motorists on edge.

Jacqueline Horigan, deputy director of external affairs for state Senate President Therese Murray, said her office has received calls that it can take one to two hours just to get over the bridge to Bourne. “That’s unacceptable,” she said.

State Sen. Dan Wolf, while allowing that the Cape “is so happy that there is this investment in our infrastructure,” said the sheer number of concurrent projects is “risking choking the economy and our way of life.” He urged planners to phase the work better, and said the cost of moving the bridge repairs exclusively to night hours needs to be ascertained and presented to the public as an option.

Larry Davis of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, who’s in charge of the Sagamore project, said weather, especially winds, affects how quickly the job can be done. He said he’s instituting a new two-shift schedule that will allow more off-hours work.

Meanwhile, the state Department of Transportation has been busy at Route 6’s Exit 2, the stretch between Exits 2 and 4, Exit 5 and Exit 6. Kevin Cassidy, construction engineer for DOT’s District 5, explained the situation.

Cassidy said bridge rehabilitation at Exit 6, at least the topside portion, will be completed this week, allowing the removal of barriers that narrowed the highway. Under the overpass, however, painting of the bridge will continue into mid-May, creating delays on Route 132.

Final paving of the brand-new roundabout at Exit 5 is scheduled for next week, according to Cassidy. This will require one-exit detours westbound on May 1 and eastbound on May 2, both from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. These will be followed by “intermittent lane closures” in May as overpass work is completed.

Cassidy said the state heard the concerns about its plan for an extended closure of the westbound Route 2 exit as it reconstructed the exit ramp, so had narrowed the closure window to two weeks. “We did it in six days,” he said.

Work will continue in the area until the Memorial Day weekend.

The final straw for some has been the cable barrier project, just started, to prevent crossover collisions between exits 2 and 4. The work will involve lane restrictions, but Cassidy said it’s state policy to monitor backups and act accordingly. If traffic queues for more than 12 minutes without moving, he said, “we have to break down (our construction staging) and allow the traffic to clear. I’m not expecting that right now.”

Cassidy is hopeful the work can be finished by Memorial Day, but the project is scheduled for completion in October. No work would be done in the summer.

Given the plethora of projects under way, Cahir asked if the cable work could have been pushed off to the fall. Cassidy said the department “had looked at that. We found that traffic in spring is much lighter than in the fall.”

Going around the table, speakers added to the list of options. A State Police representative said his department is working with the bridge contractor to provide a truck that could offer immediate assistance for breakdowns and minor fender-benders at the approaches. Others spoke about the need to get more traffic management equipment out on the road, including messaging boards that would state how long the crossing would take. Wolf called for a more scientific approach, including traffic studies that could be helpful in planning the next inevitable bridge project.

Tom Bernardo, state Rep. Demetrius Atsalis’ representative, urged the Corps and state to tie in with towns’ government channels to get the word out on message boards.

“Everybody really is trying to do the right thing,” Cahir said, noting that improved communication would be essential.